Jerry Elmore – 2017 ALFCA Lifetime Achievement Award

To say that coaching is in Jerry Elmore’s blood would be an understatement. The long-time football coach learned from the best, his father, Ferman Elmore, a 1996 inductee into the AHSAA Hall of Fame.

Jerry Elmore was a great athlete during his playing days at Athens High School where he played for his father. Jerry went to Vanderbilt University on a football scholarship. A knee injury ended a promising career, but his football days were far from over.

Influenced by his father, Jerry became a graduate assistant while earning his Master’s Degree in 1971 from the University of North Alabama. Jerry made the move to high school coaching as an assistant coach at Austin (1972-1973) and Cullman (1974-1978).

In 1979, Jerry became the head coach at Cullman High School where he took the Bearcats to the State Playoffs in his first season. He coached the Bearcats from 1979 – 1982.

Jerry coached at Oneonta in 1983, and then the remainder of his career was at Fort Payne from 1984 – 1998. At Fort Payne High School, Jerry Elmore became a legend, leading Fort Payne to a playoff berth in his first year. In 14 years at Fort Payne, Jerry won 5 Area Championships and led Fort Payne to its first 10-win season during his tenure. His overall coaching record is 122-88-1 in 20 seasons as a head coach.

Jimmy Elmore, Jerry’s brother, said from the time he was a junior in high school it was pretty apparent that he had that knack and ability to coach, and that’s what he wanted to do.

In Jerry’s words, the biggest thing that he got from his dad was discipline. “It didn’t matter if you were a good player or a bad player, everybody had to buy into the system. I didn’t spend much time with Mamas and Daddies because the kids knew that they had to do it my way. We won a lot of games early on. We had a lot of good talent, and it became hard to find people to play. I had a lot of good coaches, good people. It was a very rewarding experience.”

Coach Elmore retired in 1999 and has spent 17 years in the financial services industry.

Jerry coached in the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star game in 1997, was inducted into the DeKalb County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the Limestone County Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. He served on the District Board for 12 years and on the Central Board of Control for 8 years.

Jerry Elmore is most proud of his family of coaches. His dad had eight brothers, and five of the nine siblings became football coaches. His son, Chris, is the Head Football Coach at Chelsea. Ferman, Jerry, and Chris are the only father, son, and grandson head football coaches ever in the State of Alabama.

Today, the ALFCA is honored to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Jerry Elmore.